Iconian
The Iconians are Xai'athi infomorphs, those transferred their minds into the robotic ones they built. They are made up of the Awali elite, who alone had the funds nessesary for the operations needed to pull off such a technological feat They are best known for the massive robot armies they build for the Solaris Federation's mining operations, military, and commercial useage. The Iconians control a vast swath of space known as Iconius, made up of dead worlds turned into massive factories, best known of which is their homeworld, Iconia, the core of which was hallowed out to make room for more factories. It looks like the planet's crust was peeled away, allowing onlookers to see the working of the Iconians. Their massive warbot army, numbering in the tens of billions, giving the Iconians huge amounts of political leeway, meaning that Iconius is much more independent of the Federation than most other breed governments. History 'Conception & Debates' The Iconians were a simple concept of the Awali genius, Nassor Kurenga, who had lived through Binadamu's conquests of the original Xai'athi homeworld of Epsilon Eridani in M4. Nassor invisioned a time where the Xai'athi could get give up their mortal fleshly bodies, and live in ones constructed of immortal sardonikium. In M7, Nassor and a close group of Awali scientists, politicials, wealthy elite, managed to develop the process which would safely transfer the mind of a Xai'athi into a robotic body, free of pain, fatigue, and time. They refined and finally perfected the art of mind control, with the ability to safely capture every bit of one's concessiness, memories, thoughts, and all, and then place it inside of a new body or vessel. This breakthrough was astonishing, and made headlines throughout the Solaris Federation within days of it's completion. As the Xai'athi celebrated their breakthrough, a small number of Xai'athi began to step foward, and challenged the idea of removing one's soul from a fleshy body to a cold, mechnical one. This group was known as the Nexusians, and were abhorred by the thought of an entire race abandoning their bodies for robotic ones. Nassor and his supporters immediately challenged their claims of widespread moral detoriation, as the thought transferring process would beyond simply moving one's mind into a robotic body, as new ideas of what one could do with such technology grew. The Nexusians claimed that decadence would flourish, as Xai'athi jumped from body to body, fulfilling every fleshy desire they could imagine, and this was a proven fact, as Farseer Caria Madora, a longtime supporter of the Nexusians, gave a detailed account of the falling Eldar civilization's growing debuactary, and how it came as a result of their technology fulfilling all of their needs for them, while they went ahead with their lives, fulfilling evry single desire imaginable. Nassor shrugged this off as a powerful civilization's feeling of inviciblity taking over, and how it would not affect the Xai'athi, who he considered far more serious in the consideration of how to best use technology. This won him even more supporters, as the Nexusians were seen as looking down on Xai'athi moralities, leading some to believe that the Nexusians considered Xai'athi inferior to the Eldar, for thinking that the Xai'athi would follow the path of their enemy, or that the Nexusians were simply technophobes. As the debates continued over the millenia, Nassor decided to go ahead a request the government's permission to create a new breed of Xai'athi in M15, which brought the attention of the Kaizari, Mtawala (Binadamu), and Kurugenzi, as such an issue needed to be considered carefully before permission was granted. 'Creation' Nassor gave a detail reason as to how he would develop the new breed (as was required for permission to do so). He wanted to create a breed of Xai'athi that moved their minds into bodies of sardonikium, which had been debated over the passed 13,000 years. He stated that simply creating a new breed to continue on with his plans for far easier than doing so, and risking attack by the Nexusians, who had grow in power over the millenia. The Kurugenzi, though skeptical, followed the wisdom of Kaizari Tu, and with the blessing of the Mtawala (who considered the idea as novel, and saw a bit of himself in the Awali scientist), Nassor was officially granted permission to carry on with his idea, at which he began recruiting Xai'athi who would join his breed. Nassor, a few of his friends, and most of his family, began the process of trasferring their minds into their new, custom built bodies, starting with Nassor. He wanted his mind transferred into the massive database he'd built on his family's homeworld of Iconia, which the Kurenga Family controlled completly. He would then build for himself an avatar which he could control from the central node on Iconia, allowing him to interact with the world around him. His plan went further than what many saw at first, as controlling the Central Node (which all Iconians would soon be linked too), he would be able to control every Iconian in the galaxy. Nassor and the first Iconians (numbering only 500), were known by the Federation as the Chumandi (which would become the name of an Iconian-created species), and still regarded as Awali, as the entire group came from that breed. The Iconians were little respect in the Core Worlds, and feared in the Rim Worlds. Their presence wasn't tolerated on the Frontier Regions, as Imperial criminals, Eldar corsairs, and Xai'athi pirates would attack them on sight. The minds of the Iconians that were killed in these attacks, were transferred across space, and back to Iconia, were their mind was simply placed into a new body. The Iconians knew that no one would tolerate them for long if they didn't put any real faith in their technology. Thus Nassor decided to go the extra mile, and turn the Iconians into killing machines. Iconians would be required to have weapons, defenses, and stronger bodies, as standard issue, and all Iconians would have to link their minds to the central node on Iconia, allowing the Iconian leaders to develop better ways to counter attacks, develop the race, and help each other when the need for such war required. As they began the expansion of their breed, and began working on how to sustain their new empire, the Iconians would soon face their first true challenge; Dealing with their old enemies, the Nexusians. 'The War of Evolution' Not long after the emergence of the first Xai'athi psykers, did the Nexusians, who supported the power of the Warp over the power of technology, begin to study as much Warp-related knowledge as possible from the Eldar. The Iconians had dominated the debate through their political power, industrial strength, and technological edge. The Nexusians were losing the fight, and had yet to come up with a way to oppose the Iconians "blasphemy" aganist humanity. With the aquisition of psychic powers, the Nexusians finally had an edge aganist the Iconians. Since the Iconians didn't see any usefulness in the Warp, and had given up their souls (mostly), for mechnical bodies, they were left out when the Xai'athi became a psychic species in M15 (some Xai'athi had already been psychic do to the light genetic crossing between the Awali and the Eldar). With their new powers, bloated with their extensive knowledge of the Warp and it's potential, the Nexusians decided to go ahead and force the Iconians into acknowledging their wrongs aganist the natural order of things. The Nexusians had turned from peaceful protesters, into an organized terrorist organization. The Iconians didn't paticularly for the Nexusians pathetic attacks until they began attacking Iconian Nodes, which held the minds of all Iconians after death, and awaiting a new body. This was seen as the ultimate injustice, as the Nexusians weren't attacking pieces of Iconian technology, but attack Iconians who had given their lives in the pursuit of science and peace. Thankfully for the Iconians, the Nexusians attempts to destroy the nodes failed, and prevented the dead Iconians from being lost forever. Nassor was unwilling to fight fellow Xai'athi, but their blatant disregard for others soon led to his decision to appel before the Mahakama for permission to fight the Nexusian terrorist. In 613.M15, the Mahakama officially declared the Nexusians and all of their affliates, as terrorist organizations, and recognized the Iconian's right to fight back. The Iconians were now legally permited to kill Nexusians, while the Nexusians would be charged with every single Iconian death. Because of the ideologies behind the war's beginning, it would be known as the War of Evolution, in which two powers attempted to decide which path of evolution the Xai'athi would follow. By M16, the war had no clear victor. The Iconians would simply build more robot soldiers to deal with any losses, and any Iconians that were killed would simply be brought back to life in a new body. The Nexusians would avoid any open battles, and use the powers of the Warp to combat the Iconians, who had no idea how to counter it. Any Nexusians that were killed were resurrected in a ceremony that ultimately led to a battle-hardened psyker returning to the fight. As the two fought, the Xai'athi simply watched the battles, as the most powerful Xai'athi psykers fought the greatest technological creations ever produced by Xai'athi hands. The Kaizari at the time, Kaizari Mīṭhā, had seen the actions of the two warring factions as destructive, and without proper reasoning. Being an Anugami, she saw peace as the ultimate way of moving on in the evolution of a species, and in 303.M16, ordered both sides to stop fighting, and revoked the Iconians right to defend themselves (which hadn't been the case for most of the war). Mīṭhā brought the leaders of both sides to the Kioo Ikulu on Nyumbani, and wished to have both sides discuss their problems with the other face-to-face. Nassor and his advisors finally had a chance to see who the leaders of the Nexusians were (as they had no idea who was giving the orders, even before the war). The Nexusians were led by Mallaidh Caitríona, and her daughter and future Kaizari, Ríona Caitríona. Both were desendent of the Gaelic colonists from Epsilon Eridani who requested that should they need the nanites, that Binadamu not give them any special powers. Since they couldn't identify with any of the breeds, they were still seen as human, and were not considered and important part of the Xai'athi race. When the Xai'athi became a psychic species, all Nexusians became psychic, and compared to to rest of the Xai'athi species, were the most powerful. The Iconians and the Nexusians finally decided to negoiate, until Kaizari Mīṭhā realised that the two were fighting over an important issue that all Xai'athi had to make for themselves. Disgusted and outraged, she had Mallaidh and Ríona jailed for murder and conspiracy, and had the Nexusians exiled to a system at the edge of Federation space (which became the Nirvana system, home of the Nexusian people). The war, finally over, had no clear victor, but helped the Iconians prove their worth to the Xai'athi, and assisted them in finally "winning" their debate. Biology The Iconians are rather unique, as instead of having a defined biological makeup like to rest of the Xai'athi, they can choose their own. Iconians aren't born, their regular Xai'athi (almost always Awali), who have their mind tranferred to a robotic body custom built for them. Before the transferring, the Xai'athi can have the robotic body built to their specifications. Thus, if the Xai'athi wants two heads, or a tail and wings, or a combination of them, he/her can choose to do so. This means that no two Iconians are alike, and if one believes that by capturing an Iconian to discover their weakness, they can't, for no Iconian has the same weakness do to unique constructed bodies. What is considered an "average" Iconian, is a bipedal body, with two arms and a head. The "skin", can be the standard crystalline carapace armor provided, or a synthetic mold, allowing the Xai'athi to look exactly the same before they became an Iconian. Iconians usually go with this added feature, and now more and more Iconians blend in with Xai'athi society, meaning that one could look at an Iconian and see no signs of them having transferred their mind into a robotic body. This gives the Iconians the added advantage of blending in with other races, as they can build a robotic skeleton of a certain race, and create the skin for it, and use that body to infiltrate that civilization. Politics 'Government' The Iconian government is a technocratic democracy, in which the scienists control the upper eshelons of the government, while the average Iconian can vote on any matter using an advanced communications system, allowing a true democracy to develop. Each Iconian has a single vote on any matter, and unlike the democracies of old, all political matters are carried out by popular vote. The Iconians are ruled by Nassor Kurenga, the creator of the Iconians, and the first Xai'athi to transfer his mind into a robotic body. He is the Rais, and president for life. He created the first true democracy in the Federation, and rules as a semi-benevolent leader, using his massive armies to enforce democracy on conquered worlds, with the hope of new converts to the Iconian race. 'Laws' 'Foreign Relations' The Iconians do not forge long-term alliances, and each treaty signed is a simple contract, with an experation date given by the Iconians. They believe that fulfilling promises or fighting pointless wars for a primitive ally (case in point being the Rixari), is a waste of time best spent researching anomolies or mapping genomes of newly discovered species. As a result, Iconians are since as horrible allies, and extremely undependable. Imperium of Man: The Iconians see no point in gaining the Imperium of Man as an ally for two important reasons. One being that the Imperium is considered a primitive collective of worlds barely worth travelling to. The second being that since the Iconians resemble the Men of Iron, and are vastly superior militarily, the Imperium would use any chance they could to destroy the Iconians, and any alliance with the Imperials would conflict with the Iconians desire to live. The Iconians have some contacts within the Priesthood of Mars, secretly working with them to ensure that humanity recieves the technological help it needs when the time comes. This work is directed by Nassor Kurenga as the head of the Iconians, with Binadamu Madora pulling the strings. Tau Empire: The only Iconian alliance worthy of note would be that with the Tau. The Iconians respect the Tau's scienitific gains willingness to pursue technological advancement, and ability to learn from their mistakes (something Techpriests have an aweful problem doing). Thus, the Iconians, like many species in the galaxy, attempt to protect the young race from the hostile Imperium, and can be seen fighting alongside the Tau Empire's forces. However, the Iconians still see the Tau as absolutely primitive, and don't deal with them directly. Eldar: The Iconians see the Eldar as a nusience, as their craftworlds float through their space as if the Iconians weren't even watching. This deeply angers the Iconians, especially when the Eldar Rangers who travel to Iconians worlds take items from them, stating that the planet was theirs, and as such, so is anything on them. For this reason, and many, many more, the Iconians will do anything to rid themselves of them. Eldar travelling through Iconian space can expect constant assaults by the Iconians. Orks: The Iconians study the Orks extensively, seeing a potential weapon that could be unleashed in a more direct manner than the Orks hap-hazardly organized Waaagh!s. The Iconians usally capture the greenskins deep within the Imperium, as the Federation has no Ork population itself. There is no recorded instance of diplomatic contact between the two races. Rixari: Unlike the Awali who have good connections with the Rixari, and the Vashti who are still engaged in a war with them, the Iconians neither see the Rixari as a friend or a foe, and prefer to keep their distance. The Rixari Resonant Amplification Weapon, pointed out a serious flaw in the design of Iconian machines, and the Iconians, unlike their Awali brethren, have adapted their forces to develop counters to the weapons. The Iconians see the Rixari as a primitive race of fish people not worth risking contact with again. Thus, the Iconians see them as more of a nusiance than an ally. Onimongar: While the Iconians have contact with the Onimongar, they don't communicate with them as a whole. Instead, they actually work with a few of the sane members known as the Chrono-Mongar, assisting them in their search for a cure for their species. The Xai'athi don't approve of the alliance, fearing what would happen if a race of gargantuan titans millions of years ahead of them in technology, would if they gained the entirety of their species if a cure is found. Military The Iconian military us known as the Iron Legions, a 15 billion man army, though only 50 million of them are sentient, while the rest are robotic soldiers. Iconian commanders control their troops through an advanced communication system, allowing them to give instantous orders over vast distances. The Iron Legions is extremely diverse in it's functions, as the Iconians need only create a new robot designed to fulfill the need, example being if the Iconians ever needed to fight the Orks, they could produce a robotic army with the same strengths, and at a lower cost, with few issues save for production capacity. This allows the Iconians to field vast, highly advanced armies at lightning quick speeds, and thus equal or even exceed the Imperial, Ork, or Tyranid armies they combat. The Iconians only are capable of fighting the wars of the Solaris Federation, though the Iconians prefer to market their armies out to buyers, rather than get involved in a war themselves. It is a widely known fact that without the Iron Legions fighting for Solaris, the Federation would have been destroyed a hundred times over it's long history. During the Great Solar War in M31, the Iron Legions constituted about 85% of the Federation military, and were instrumental in winning the Battle of Yasuda for the Xai'athi. The greatest to come out of the Iconian military was the Type-XI Warbot, a light-weight robot capable of both close-range and long-range combat, and well armored, and well shielded using the Iconian Tona Field. The Iron Legions field billions of Type-XIs, and sell downgraded versions of it (with weaker armor and no Tona Field projector), to the Federation military, the Kijeshi, and to almost every breed military of the Xai'athi. Society The Iconians value scientific advancement above all else. Iconians are explorers and scientists first and foremost, and see scientific knowledge as good as gold. They see each other as fellow scientists searching for new ways of thinking, new species to study, and new worlds to explore. They also look for STCs to learn just how advanced humanity was at it's peak (though during the same period, Solaris was hundreds of thousands of years ahead of humanity technologically). They have literally gone to war with the Adeptus Mechanicus too many times to remember, over STCs they've discovered across the galaxy. In fact, Xai'athi even joke that if the Iconians weren't looking for STCs too, the Imperium would have regained all of the lost technology of humanity. Why the Iconians are so interested in primitive technology is beyond the Xai'athi, but the Iconians continue with their expeditions. Iconians are responsible for the majority of Xai'athi technological breakthroughs, such as the mind-transferring process in M7, which virtually eliminated all fears of death, and the discovery of Nodespace in M12, which allowed the Xai'athi to spread across space with no fear of the Warp. The Iconians follow a strict social system based on scientific knowledge, in which an Iconian can only climb up the ladder through extensive knowledge of scientific facts, and can only join the elite by way of personal connections, and political backstabbing. However, the Iconians, unlike many other Xai'athi (save perhaps the Vashti and the Liulan), prefer to think logically being scientists and all, and will only move on in a matter once careful consideration has been made. During the Great Solar War, the Iconians only got involved when they discovered that the Imperium was stealing Xai'athi technology. The Iconians hunted down the thieves, and destroyed all technological loot they had. The Iconians then lobbied the government to toughen reverse-engineering safeguards, which led to Xai'athi technology being ridculously impossible to copy. As scientist, Iconians see Xai'athi technology as their's, and will track down, and eliminate anyone foolish enough to change that. Technology The Iconians are unrefutably the most advanced breed of the Xai'athi. Their culture is built the aquisition of technology, and as a result, some of the most important inventions in the Federation have been created by Iconians. Things like synthetic skin, military robots, and the Black Lotus Dreadnought, the most powerful weapon in the Federation, have been created by Iconians. Every high-tech device required by the Xai'athi to sustain their civilization is built by the Iconians, and all robotic devices used by the Xai'athi are also of Iconian origin. The Iconians have created virtually all non-Warp based devices for the Federation, and nearly early warship built for the Federation government is built on an Iconian factory world. The Iconians unsurprisingly, keep all important technology to themselves, and allow the other breeds to develop their own, as is commonplace in the Xai'athi race. 'Weapons' The Iconian arsenal is packed full of weapons that are built to kill and nothing else. They use all kinds of powerful energies other didn't even think could be harnessed, and do to the Iconians history of manufacturing all kinds of produces for the Solaris Federation, their weapons are the most widespread. Weapons such as the IXR-91 Assault Rifle is a popular choice amoung police agenices, for it's reliabilty, pricing, and punching power. 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